Technology, Efficiency, Mindfulness

Monthly Archives: October 2010

While trying to set up my JUnit test project in eclipse to be able to mock the dependencies of my classes under test, I was receiving a java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError exception on the call to EasyMock.replay(myMockedObject). Included in my build path were easymock-3.0.jar, objenesis-1.2.jar, and cglib-2.2.jar.

I eventually found this site, and saw that I needed cglib-nodep-2.2.jar in my build path instead of just cglib-2.2.jar. Odd that EasyMock didn’t mention that .jar specifically.

If you have done any database work for Android by extending SQLiteOpenHelper, you have also had the experience of passing a Context down through the layers of your application to your database adapter. This is annoying because while you want the focus of your programming efforts to be on your application domain, part of your application design is focused on forwarding a framework-specific variable. Fortunately, roboguice comes to the rescue with just a few handfuls of code.

First, you’ll need to create an application class that inherits from RoboApplication:

public class MyApplication extends RoboApplication { }

RoboApplication contains the method protected void addApplicationModules(List<Module> modules) that you can override and add any modules that you’ve defined to the List, so you can add the following to your application class:

The last piece of the puzzle is for your Activities to extend from a Robo*Activity (RoboActivity, RoboListActivity, etc.) which will hook up the static injection:

public class MyActivity extends RoboActivity { }

Now, whenever an instance of the DBAdapter is created, roboguice will inject our current Context into contextProvider before calling the constructor:

DBAdapter dbAdapter = new DBAdapter();

Another way to inject a context provider into the DBAdapter is to use the usual guice injection strategy of creating an interface, implementing it, and configuring an AbstractModule. This approach requires more overhead, but perhaps creates a cleaner solution. I might write another post detailing this method if there’s interest.

Well, I never thought that I would actually start a blog. I don’t even like the word “blog”. It’s like a mix between some trendy marketing term and the sound of someone vomiting (blahhg). Oh, wait, that sound is just me after reading the majority of the blogs online. Usually some self-absorbed person who thinks that I want to read their inner-monologue detailing– Ugh, I can already start to feel my slide to the dark side. Let me get through this post, and then we shall never speak of this again.

I initially started looking into a blog because I’ve been developing more for Android lately, and I’ve found that the amount of information that the web contains on the subject isn’t as plentiful as some of the other technologies that I use, like .NET. I thought posting about my Android tribulations could simultaneously help me learn more about the subject, and help other developers solve their issues that I have already encountered. I also hope that writing about Android will motivate me to remain passionate about it. I will often start some endeavor with great interest and passion, but the interest inevitably fades with the passion right behind it; it seems writing could be a good way to keep that interest and passion going. Finally, I’ve always wanted to improve my writing, and this will give me that opportunity.

While most of my posts will revolve around Android, there undoubtedly will be some on other topics that I’m interested in. From software to poker; from meditation to driving tactics. I hope someone finds something of interest.